The Soul of Rock and Roll [Box]

Performer: Roy Orbison
Artist: Emmylou Harris; Jerry Lee Lewis; Johnny Cash; Carl Perkins; K.D. Lang
Producer: Chet Atkins; Chips Moman; Clayton Ivey; David Briggs; George Massenberg; David Lynch; David Was; Don Was; Fred Foster; Gregg Geller; Jack Clement; Jeff Lynne; Jim Vienneau; Joe Melson; Michael Utley; Mike Curb; Nelson Wilbury; Norman Petty; Otis Wilbury; Pete Anderson; Rick Rubin; Roy Orbison; T-Bone Burnett; Terry Woodford; Barbara Orbison; Wesley Rose; Will Jennings; Bill Justis; Sam Phillips; Bono; Brian Ahern; Brian Eno; Roy Kelton Orbison Jr (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Roy Orbison (vocals, guitars, background vocals); Jeff Lynne (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, bass instrument, background vocals); Lefty Wilbury (vocals, guitar); Mark Goldenberg (vocals, electric guitar, mandolin, accordion); James Morrow (vocals, electric mandolin); Benmont Tench (vocals, strings, piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Don Was (vocals, Hammond b-3 organ); Joe Melson, K.D. Lang (vocals, background vocals); Micahel J. Libow, Doug Fieger, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, The Roses, Barbara Orbison, Carl Perkins (vocals); Larry Byrom, Steve Gibson (guitar, guitars); Dean Parks (guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin); Otis Wilbury (guitar, keyboards, background vocals); Bruce Pearson, Johnny Wilson, Roland Janes, Alan James, Bono , Brent Rowan (guitar); Lenny LeBlanc (guitars, bass instrument); Lucky Wilbury, C.T. Wilbury Jr., J. D. Souther, Nelson Wilbury, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen (guitars, background vocals); John Christopher, Joe Tanner, Rodney Justo, David Hidalgo, Fred Carter Jr., Grady Martin, Hank Garland, Harold Bradley, J.R. Cobb, James Burton, Jerry Kennedy, Mac McAnally, Ray Edenton, Reggie Young, Robert Byrne, Scotty Moore, T-Bone Burnett, Tippy Armstrong, Velma Smith, Wayne Moss, Billy Sanford, Bill Hinds, Bobby Goldsboro, John Adkins, Boudleaux Bryant (guitars); Mike Campbell (acoustic guitar, mandolin); Tom Petty (acoustic guitar, background vocals); George Harrison (acoustic guitar); Terry McMillan, Charlie McCoy (harmonica); Clarence Clemons, Jim Horn, Harvey Thompson, Ronnie Eades, Boots Randolph (saxophone); Alan Mayes, Colin First (trumpet); Gordon Balmouth, Larry Knechtal, Floyd Cramer, Glen D. Hardin, Jimmy Smith , Marvin Hughes, Barry Booth, Bill Pursell (piano); Tom Waits (organ); Booker T. Jones (Hammond b-3 organ); David Briggs (keyboards, synthesizer); Bill Dees (keyboards, background vocals); Clayton Ivey, Michael Utley, Mike Utley, Shane Keister, Bobby Emmons, Bobby Wood, Bobby Woods, Jim "Turbo" Kirby (keyboards); Roger Clark (synthesizer, drums, electronic drums); Charles Evans, Jack Kennelly, Terry Widlake, Sid Manker, Dennis Belfield, Howie Epstein, Jerry Scheff, Jim Johnson, Larry Paxton, Lonnie Ledford, Mike Leech, Stan Kesler, T Bone Wolk, Tommy Cogbill, Bob Wray, James "Hutch" Hutchinson, Bob Moore (bass instrument); Buell Neidlinger (upright bass); Phil Jones, Ian Wallace (drums, percussion); John Greubel, Bob Munday, Billy Pat Ellis, Jeff Porcard, Otis Jett, Dewey Martin, Gene Chrisman, J.M. Van Eaton, Jerry Arnold, Jim Keltner, Michael Joyce, Ricky Fataar, Robert Nix, Ronnie Tutt, Ray Cooper, Paul Leim, Jerry Carrigan, Bob Mummert, Paul Garrison, Kenny Buttrey, Buddy Harman (drums); Terry Elam, Lenny Castro, Alex Acuna, Mickey Buckins, Tom Roady, Farrell Morris (percussion); Tom Brannon, LaVerna Moore, Gwen Kay, Willie Greene, Wayne Murray, Dennis Linde, Francine Reed, Ginger Holladay, Jackson Browne, Janie Fricke, Jennifer Warnes, Andrew Gold, Steve Soles, Tom Smith, Bergen White, The Cherry Sisters, Bonnie Raitt, Buzz Cason, Everett Drake (background vocals); The Bob Moore Orchestra, The Barry Booth Orchestra. This lavish, four-disc box set is undoubtedly the definitive summation of the career of Roy Orbison, rock & roll's great drama king. Behind those dark glasses and cool veneer lurked a man with an operatic voice and a rockabilly heart, and this set expertly guides you through every phase of his discography. The first disc features Orbison the Sun Records rock-&-roll cat, turning out rollicking rockabilly gems like "Ooby Dooby," and there are a number of mouth-watering demo recordings from this period featured as well. Disc Two really begins to get into the meat of the Orbison discography. Tracks like "Only the Lonely," "Running Scared," and "In Dreams" are lush, otherworldly pop operas where Orbison's unearthly tenor soars above clouds of strings to cry out, sometimes in longing, sometimes in terror. These immortal tracks pierce the listener to the soul, and by the final disc in the set, Orbison is surrounded by younger artists who grew up on those tunes, like k.d. lang, who joins him in a tear-jerking remake of "Crying." If you want the full Orbison experience, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than this box.

Rolling Stone (p.75) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "Roy Orbison was a superhero of song....He became someone extraordinary when his weeping tenor took flight....This is the only anthology that does justice to every stage of Orbison's career..." Spin (p.114) - "[H]is idiosyncratic songwriting drew from disparate genres, opening new vistas for early rock'n'roll." Dirty Linen (p.60) - "[T]his four-CD compilation will finally help you trace his development as one of rock 'n' roll's most soulful and preeminent singers from his early beginnings doing country rockabilly in the mid-1950s to the late 1980s..." Blender (Magazine) (p.84) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[Orbison was] a pioneer of jaw-dropping rock balladry that set his eerie tenor into woozy orchestral dramas that seem to have presaged the entire corpus of David Lynch." Record Collector (magazine) (p.91) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "THE SOUL OF ROCK'N'ROLL might well be the nearest pop music ever gets to producing a Bible."

Roy Orbison, a seminal rock & roll singer who initially recorded for the legendary Sun Records, created some of the most enduring hits of the 1950s and '60s. His near-operatic voice and dark, broken-hearted songs influenced a generation of artists. His songs and arrangements, almost symphonic in scope, set the template for pop sophistication in the early-to-mid-'60s. After a late-'80s comeback that included collaborations with Bono and Elvis Costello and a stint with the rock super-group the Travelling Wilburys, Orbison died of a heart attack in 1988.

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